Senate Confirms IRS Chief Counsel Pick After Year-Long Wait (1)

The Senate confirmed tax attorney Michael Desmond as chief counsel for the IRS and assistant general counsel at the Treasury Department.

The Feb. 27 final vote, 83-15, ends a year-long wait to fill a gap at the top of the Internal Revenue Service’s leadership.

President Donald Trump originally nominated Desmond—who previously was a trial attorney in the Department of Justice Tax Division and worked in Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy—in March. But the Senate failed to confirm his nomination by the end of the last Congress, requiring it to be resubmitted.

Desmond “is an exceptional individual, an outstanding ...